Photobooths
by linasane
Summary: In which Castiel has a thing for photobooths, and Dean doesn't have it in him to deny Cas the things he loves.
1. Dean's Project

A/N: So I'm hoping I'm doing this whole author's note thing right, cos it was a bit confusing. Anywho, this is the first Destiel fic I've ever written, and it's admittedly pretty freakin cheesy. But it's an idea that I've had floating around in my head for a while, and I'm pretty content with the end result of finally writing it out. I might continue the story if I get the chance, but I'm not super sure yet. Let me know what you all think!

**Edit, 13/11/13:** I will definitely be adding onto this fic. The second part is already written and will be posted some time in the next week. All later parts will be posted at random intervals as I write them :).

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Dean's Project**

Castiel has always had a thing for photobooths. Ever since they got together, hell, ever since they were _kids_, Cas has dragged Dean into any photobooth they passed by. When they were younger it was only a once in a while thing. They usually spent their time running around the neighborhood or the local park instead of anywhere where the machines could be found. But Dean remembers how every year, whenever the state fair was on, Cas would always grab him by the wrist and bodily drag him to the photobooths, first thing. As they got older they stopped spending as much time together, but, every once in a while, they would hang out and catch a movie, and Dean would find himself squished in beside his friend on the bench of the photobooth outside of the cinema entrance.

They had drifted apart when they went off to separate colleges, but Dean had never been able to look at one of the boxy contraptions without being reminded of Cas. He never went in, though. His ex, Lisa, had even tried to pull him into one once at a friend's wedding, but it just wouldn't have felt right without his best friend.

When he and Cas had reconnected a few years after college – thanks to Sam urging Dean to stop being a grouchy old man and finally get on social media – Dean had been surprised to find that they were living less than an hour apart, Dean having moved to Palo Alto to be closer to Sam and Cas having found better job offers in San Francisco, and they had decided to meet up for coffee at an outdoor mall more or less halfway between their respective homes. After three hours sitting and getting reacquainted, chatting and laughing about anything and everything, they had emerged from the coffee shop and wandered around the mall, not quite ready to part ways, when they came across a photobooth. Cas spotted it first, his face lighting up in an all-too-familiar way. Dean thought it was almost comical how that look hadn't changed at all since the first time he'd seen it on nine-year-old Cas's face. Just like old times, he had found himself with Cas's iron grip around his wrist, being manhandled into the tiny space. He remembered there being a lot more room in these things when they were younger, but trying to fit two grown men onto a three-foot bench resulted in Cas all but sitting in Dean's lap. Once the machine started up, Cas had turned to Dean, as he always had, ready to ask what kind of faces they should make. Only then had the two men noticed just how close they were sitting, and Dean found himself in a horribly cliché chick flick moment as their first kiss was documented by the machine. But, as the camera went off in the background, bright flashes muted by the sensation of Cas's lips on his own, Dean had found himself unable to care.

He chuckles at the memory now as he reaches up to grab the shoebox he's kept hidden at the back of their shared closet. In the six years since then, he's lost count of how many times he's found himself crammed inside one of the tiny contraptions. Cas can't walk past one without stopping, grabbing Dean's wrist and giving him that same excited look; Dean still hasn't found a way to say no to that face. He doesn't know what Cas does with his halves of all the photostrips, but all of Dean's have found their way into this box. He's even got the ones from when they were kids. Some are a bit wrinkled, and most have faded over time, but he's still managed to keep each and every one. And, by now, there are _hundreds_. Dean smiles as he opens the lid. _Yeah,_ he thinks to himself, _these are gonna be _perfect.

He takes the box with him into the spare room, setting it down next to the rest of his supplies. When they first moved in three years ago, they hadn't been able to decide what to do with the space. Dean had wanted a music room, and Cas had pushed for a library. But the books and records found their way onto the shelves that lined the living room walls, and the couple had been stumped as to what to do with their spare room after that. So, for the past few years, it had served more or less as storage. But Dean had moved all the junk they had kept in here into the garage yesterday. Cas had left the day before for New York to visit Gabriel, and Dean had seized the opportunity to get to work on a project he's been planning for a while now. He looks around the blank white walls of the room once more before opening the tub of wallpaper glue and picking up a brush.

Five hours later and he's got three walls covered. He had been smart enough to write the dates on the backs of each of the photostrips, so it had been fairly easy to paste them up on the walls in chronological order. The pictures of him and Cas as kids start by the door and they move around the room from there. He's arranged them in a long five-photostrip-wide stripe that winds its way along three walls room, going up and around the small window on the wall across from the door. The whole process so far probably would've taken him only two or three hours, but Dean's been distracted reminiscing. He runs a hand through his hair before picking up his glue brush and approaching the empty wall. _This is so freaking cheesy_, he thinks to himself, _but, in for a penny right?_ He shakes his head, chuckling at what a sap he's become as he sticks the very last photostrip up on the wall.

* * *

Castiel lets out a long sigh as the shuttle pulls up outside the house he and Dean share. As much as he loves Gabriel, he's never been able to handle him for more than a few days at a time. So his week in New York had been exhausting. Plus, if he's honest, he's missed Dean and he's just so ready to be home. He can already feel himself starting to relax as he walks in the door. He kicks off his shoes and throws his keys onto the side table.

"Dean?" he calls out, shrugging out of his trenchcoat and hanging it in the hall closet.

"In the spare room!" comes the somewhat muted response.

Cas doesn't spare much thought as to why Dean would be in the hardly-used space, too impatient to see his boyfriend after their time apart. Leaving his bags in the entryway, he makes his way to the spare room and stops short in the doorway.

The first thing he notices is that there are candles _everywhere_. Enough so that the room is almost as brightly lit as the hallway he just came from. And then he catches sight of the newly decorated walls. Just as Dean knew he would, he starts to make his way around the room, looking at all of the photostrips that trigger memory after memory. He starts with the photos from their childhood. He and Dean, sunburnt by the summer sun, smiling toothily at the camera. Then there are the photos from middle school. He laughs outright at some of the photos that have clearly captured each of their awkward stages; one strip is particularly embarrassing, featuring Cas with shiny braces and Dean with a rather unfortunate haircut. There are fewer pictures from high school, and none from their college years. Cas stops for a moment in front of the photos from the day they were reunited, smiling to himself at the memory of their first kiss. As he wanders the room, he begins to tear up just a bit, overwhelmed by so many memories. Some of the strips are funny, he and Dean pulling ridiculous faces. Some are sweet, from important dates or anniversaries. Some of them even feature Sam sticking his head into the shot, unable to fit his enormous frame fully into the photobooth. Cas eventually finishes the third wall and turns to the fourth, empty save for one photostrip pasted dead center. He makes his way over to it, so focused that he doesn't hear Dean slip into the room behind him.

As he gets closer, he realizes this strip it completely unfamiliar to him. He's hurt for a second, that Dean had gone into a photobooth without him. He'd always thought of it as their thing. But then he realizes that the Dean in the photos has got something in his hands; he moves closer, squinting to make out the words on the papers photo-Dean is holding up. Each of the four pictures features a different word.

Hey

Babe,

Turn

Around.

Castiel follows the directions, turning around slowly, the suspicion of what this is all about finally creeping in. Sure enough, he turns to find Dean standing behind him. He's more dressed up than Cas has ever seen him, in a full perfectly tailored black suit. As Castiel turns, Dean slowly lowers himself down onto one knee.

"Cas," Dean says, and _shit_, he knows his voice is noticeably shaking at this point. He pauses, trying to calm his nerves, but it's an impossible task under the weight of his boyfriend's shocked gaze. He had a whole speech planned out, painstakingly written up and (embarrassingly enough) practiced in the bathroom mirror more times that he would ever admit, but that all flies out the window now, as he's not sure if he can speak past the lump in his throat that seems to be made up of entirely too many emotions – nervousness, excitement, joy, insecurity, love – all rolled into one. So he decides to cut to the important part.

"Will you marry me?"

* * *

Hours later, the candles in the spare room have long since gone out and the floor is scattered with their fallen clothing. They've finally made it to their bed and have been lying there in comfortable silence when something occurs to Cas. He whips around in his fiancé's arms, startling the other man, who had been seconds from sleep. As soon as they make eye contact, Dean lets out a low chuckle…he knows _that look_. He slowly extracts one of his arms from their tangle of limbs and reaches over to the bedside table, rummaging around in the drawer. When he turns back around he's got a glossy pamphlet in his hand, and in the darkness Cas can just make out the words "Photobooth Rentals."

"I already called, babe." Dean murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to Cas's temple, "And yes, they do weddings."


	2. Their Present

**A/N:** So here's the second chapter up for you all. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first :). I realise the fic is still listed as complete, and that's because each chapter can be read on its own so it's not gonna have any unresolved endings like a WIP. I'm not sure how many chapters there will end up being, either, as I'm just kindof writing them up whenever I get an idea. Anyways, hope you all enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 2 - Their Present**

Dean and Cas return from their honeymoon to find their living room overrun with boxes. When they sent out wedding invitations, they had let everyone know that they didn't want any gifts, – in fact, Dean had gone so far as to add a tiny note at the bottom informing guests that "any fancy china sets _will_ be used for target practice" – so they'd been surprised to find a table full of gifts at their reception. Gabriel, as it turned out, had set up a gift registry for them and, with the help of Sam and Jess, sent it out to all of their guests. The couple had managed to forget all about the table of presents over the course of the night, leaving them behind when they set off for their honeymoon, but apparently Sam or Gabe had brought everything over from the reception hall (considering the way the gifts are stacked haphazardly on every available surface, Dean's money is on Gabe).

They leave their bags at the door, moving into the living room. Dean looks around at all the gifts before turning to his husband.

"Might as well open 'em, right?" he asks, "It's not like we can return them."

Cas chuckles softly, "Right," he confirms with a nod, leaning over the press a quick kiss on the other man's lips. He has no doubt that Dean would try and return everything if he thought he could get away with it. Even as a kid, he had never been good at receiving presents, said it always made him feel like he owed people.

They spend the next two hours sitting on the floor of the living room together, slowly opening their gifts. Dean's surprised to find that he's enjoying himself, and that most of the gifts Gabriel had registered them for are pretty cool. There's the special edition Star Wars boxed set that Charlie had gotten them, a new blender from Ellen and Jo, some ridiculous all-in-one home remote from Ash, and a state-of-the-art coffeemaker from Bobby that Cas practically salivates over. Dean laughs outright at the other man's reaction, knowing that he's going to have to deal with a jittery, over-caffeinated husband for the next few weeks. Cas had apparently developed a taste for coffee over the course of one too many all-nighters in college, and even though his need for caffeine (and his tolerance for it) had long since passed, his love for the stuff hadn't. He grabs the box out of the other man's hands and gives it a once-over before looking up at Castiel, pointing a finger at the other man.

"We," he says solemnly, gesturing between the two of them, "are gonna figure out how to make you decaf."

Castiel's answering bark of laughter echoes off of the living room walls.

* * *

When all the gifts have been opened and put away, they grab their suitcases from the entryway and make their way to the bedroom.

"I'm surprised there wasn't anything from Sam," Castiel muses.

Dean shrugs, "He and Jess already did so much helping us plan out the wedding. That's enough of a gift for me," he says, nonchalant as ever, although Cas catches the brief look of hurt that flickers across his face. "Besides," Dean adds, "I'd rather get no gift than something like what Gabriel got us."

Cas laughs at that one. When they had gotten to the large box with a tag on it that read, simply, **From: Gabe**, he had been expecting some horrible collection of over-the-top sex toys or something equally embarrassing. What they had found upon peeling back the paper, however, was so much worse.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean had ground out, but there was a fondness underlying the overt annoyance in his tone.

Gabriel had gotten them the most ridiculously fancy china set Castiel has ever seen. The delicate plates, cups, and saucers were adorned with an intricate gold filigree pattern interspersed with flowers and leaves. Cas had pulled out one of the plates to take a closer look, and he hadn't been able hold back the huff of laughter that escaped his lips as he realized that perched on every leaf was a tiny brightly colored –

"Oh my god, dude, are those _butterflies_?"

Now, Castiel smiles as he replays Dean's earlier tirade about the plates in his head. They've finally managed to lug their bags to their bedroom and Dean's just about the flop down onto the bed when he notices something new hanging on the wall above their headboard. It's wrapped in plain silver paper, with a tag on the outside that reads **Congratulations, guys. Love, Sam and Jess. ** Dean turns to Cas, a wide smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. Castiel smiles back at his husband and they both move to unwrap the gift together, the paper pulling away easily.

They're both rendered speechless for a few moments when they realize what it is. Dean feels tears well up behind his eyes and curses his little brother for a second; leave it to Sammy to give him something that makes him cry. But then he turns to Cas, who flashes a watery smile back at him, and he knows he's not the only one so affected by the gift.

The space above their headboard is now dominated by a picture frame made to look like a giant photostrip. The top of the frame reads, in large black letters "**Dean & Castiel**." Underneath, in smaller font, is the date they were married. Inside the four individual sections are black and white prints of some of the professional pictures that were taken at the wedding.

The first shot is of the two of them at the altar. It's a close-up, just their shoulders and faces in the frame, but Dean knows it's the moment when they were sliding the rings onto each other's fingers. They're looking up at each other, both of their eyes shining with a tell-tale wetness, with huge grins on their faces.

The next picture makes both of them laugh out loud. Having pie instead of cake had been a minor source of conflict when they had been planning the wedding. Eventually, Cas had conceded; he knew Dean's love of pie rivaled his own love of photobooths, so it only seemed fitting that both of them could have their second-favorite things at their wedding (their absolute favorites being each other, of course). Their wedding pies had been apple, topped with whipped cream and presented on a stand that made them look like a multi-tiered wedding cake. The photographer had managed to capture the exact moment when they had simultaneously decided to crush pieces of apple pie into each other's faces. In the picture, Castiel looks a bit shocked, but there's laughter evident in his eyes, clear even through a layer of whipped cream. Dean is outright smiling, laughing and flicking out his tongue to taste some of the pie filing on his husband's fingers.

The third picture captures the couple from the waist up, arms around each other as they move on the dance floor. Their foreheads are pressed together as they look into one another's eyes. Looking at the picture now, Castiel remembers how blissfully happy he had felt in that moment. He hadn't been aware that the photographer was still taking pictures; then again, he hadn't really been aware of anything else but Dean just then. Now, he leans his head onto his husband's shoulder, smiling as the other man presses a gentle kiss to his hair, because he knows Dean is remembering the same moment, alone in their own world on the dance floor.

The fourth and final picture is the only one in which they're looking directly at the camera. It was taken as they exited the reception hall and headed for the Impala, ready for the short road trip to the harbor where they would board their honeymoon cruise. Their suits are clearly rumpled from a long night of celebration, Cas's tie askew and Dean's collar not quite sitting properly. But the smiles on their faces are just as bright as they were when they first caught site of each other early down the aisle.

Cas turns now and sees that same expression on Dean's face, even more striking in color. He knows that he's mirroring the other man's expression, both of them grinning ridiculously as they hold each other's gaze.

Eventually, they break apart long enough to turn down the bed and crawl under the covers. They don't do anything but sleep that night, exhausted from a long day of travel, but as Dean falls asleep, curled up in Cas's arms and staring up at their own smiling faces, he thinks that he can't get any happier than he is in this moment.

The next day, when the couple finds out what their new china sounds like as it's shattered by the impact of a bullet, he realizes that he can.


	3. Mary's Idea

**A/N: **Soo this chapter got a little bit out of hand. It was way harder to write than the last two, and it ended up being a lot longer than I expected. Not sure how I feel about it at this point...I might end up editing the whole thing later on. But, in the mean time, hope you all enjoy! Also, thanks to everyone who's reviewed; all feedback's appreciated :).

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**Chapter 3 - Mary's Idea**

The morning after they return from their honeymoon, the newlyweds sleep in, lying curled around each other in bed until Dean's grumbling stomach and Cas' protesting bladder force them out from under the covers around ten. They spend the next twenty minutes reading the instructions of their new coffeemaker over bowls of cereal. When, half an hour later, standing next to the shiny new machine atop their counter, they each take their first sips from steaming mugs, Dean can't help but laugh out loud at the look on Cas's face.

"What?" Cas asks.

"Nothing, babe," Dean says, still laughing, "But I think I just realized how ridiculous I look when I'm eating pie."

"At least I don't outright _moan_ at my food," Cas huffs, proceeding to throw his head back and let out a deep and exaggerated moan that probably would've made Dean blush…if all the blood in his body wasn't suddenly headed somewhere else.

"I'm sorry," he says, putting down his mug and moving to wrap an arm around his husband's waist and pull him close, "I didn't quite hear you. Could you repeat that?"

Cas sets his coffee down as well, sliding his arms around Dean's neck and moving his lips close to the other man's ear. He rolls his hips against his husband's as he lets out another low moan, this one even filthier than the last. The sound is quickly cut off by Dean's mouth on his, and it's another minute before either man pulls back.

"Come shower with me?" Dean murmurs, pressing another quick kiss to Cas's lips before disentangling himself and sauntering back towards their master bedroom. When he reaches the doorway and turns back, Dean bursts into laughter again at how torn Cas looks, eyes darting between his husband and his still-hot cup of coffee. "I'm gonna go start the shower," Dean tells him, "Come and join me when you're done."

"God I love you," Cas says, picking up his mug as Dean headed down the hallway.

"You better be talking to me and not that damn coffee!" Dean calls back.

* * *

After a long shower, Dean and Cas wander into the spare room to find a flat white box on the floor. When they move closer, they see that it's a delivery box from the photobooth rental company they had used at their wedding. The guests had all gotten prints of their photos immediately, but the company also sent out duplicates to whoever had rented the booth. Dean looks up to tell Cas that Gabriel must've brought the box in for them, only to find that his husband looks happier than a kid on Christmas. He knows what they're doing for the rest of the day.

The two of them sit down side by side in the center of the room. Dean reaches over and grabs the box, placing it in the other man's lap.

"Go on," he tells him, "You know you wanna open it."

Cas leans over a gives him a quick kiss before eagerly pulling the lid off of the box. Inside, there are probably a hundred photostrips featuring them and their guests. The invite list hadn't been huge, mostly family and close friends, and a few of their coworkers, but clearly the photobooth had been a hit with everyone. The couple quickly gets to work separating all the photostrips, half stacked into a pile next to Dean and the other half next to Cas. As they work, they talk about what to do with all of them, occasionally stopping to laugh at a particularly ridiculous shot. In the end, they decide to use the strips to decorate a portion of the emptiest wall in the room, which still holds just the one photostrip that Dean used to propose to Cas. When they finish dividing up all the strips, Dean goes to grab his wallpapering supplies from the garage while Cas goes to do whatever it is he does with his copies of the photos.

On his way out of the house, Dean's cell phone rings, the screen flashing MOM.

"Hey, Mom," he says as he picks up.

"Hi, sweetheart," comes Mary's voice down the line, "I thought I'd give you a call on my lunch break. How's it going? How was the honeymoon?"

Dean can't help the smile that spreads across his face as he grabs the wallpaper glue and supplies from one of the garage shelves, "It was great. We'll tell you all about it later. You and Dad are still coming over for dinner tonight, right?"

"Of course," she tells him, "I was actually just calling to let you know that your father has to work late tonight, so we won't be over until eight at the earliest. But I might be there earlier…I can't wait to hear all about the honeymoon!"

"That's fine," Dean says, chuckling at his mother's excitement, "And Mom? Can you –"

"Don't worry, Dean," Mary cuts him off, "I put everything together for a pie last night; I just need to put it in the oven."

"And _that_ is why you're the best mom ever," Dean tells her before they say their goodbyes and hang up. Then he heads back inside to the spare room and his husband.

* * *

Pasting the photostrips up on the wall turns out to be a way more time-consuming task than either man anticipated, as they spend more time looking at all of the photos than actually working. Some of the shots are pretty standard, all of the guests taking turns in the booth. There's one of Ellen and Jo, Bobby squeezed in between them, looking out of place without a hat on. Another features John and Mary, Mary smiling and pulling faces while John rolls his eyes fondly. Andrea and Benny had managed to fit their entire family into the booth, each of them holding one of their girls (who looked pretty damn cute in their flower girl dresses) on their lap. Ash stars in one of the other strips; he had taken off his suit jacket to reveal the ridiculous sleeveless shirt underneath and was flipping his mullet around for the camera. Cas and Dean share identical looks of confusion and then laughter when they come upon the photostrip of Garth, rocking aviators and, inexplicably, a sock puppet.

It's easy to tell which pictures were taken later in the evening, once everyone had had a few drinks. Cas's personal favorite out of that bunch features Sam seated on the bench, just barely fitting in the booth, despite the fact that they had ordered the supersized one. Dean and Benny are popping their heads into the left side of the booth, while Cas and Gabe stick theirs in on the right. All five men are wearing ridiculous stick-on mustaches that Gabe had bought. Cas remembers all of them trying to keep straight faces during their four photos and failing miserably. Another strip, clearly taken at the very end of the night, features Garth passed out on the bench, Ash and Jo leaning over him, sharpies in hand.

There are also several photostrips that Dean and Cas consider leaving off the wall entirely, as some of their guests had clearly taken advantage of the fact that the photobooth had provided a secluded area away from prying eyes. There are some fairly hilarious ones, though, including one of Gabe surrounded by women who neither man remembers even being at the wedding. There are even a few photos featuring the happy couple themselves. They've finally decided to keep all of them, but put them up higher on the wall where they're not immediately noticeable, when the doorbell rings.

Castiel answers it to find his new mother-in-law, pie in hand.

She smiles a bit guiltily when he opens the door, "I know I said I'd be over later," she tells him, "But I just couldn't wait to hear all about your honeymoon!"

Cas chuckles as he leans down to give her a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek before taking the pie and leading her inside. "You know you're always welcome here," he tells her, "Dean's in the spare room. Why don't you go on ahead and I'll find some place to hide this so that it actually survives until dinner time."

Mary laughs. "Smart man," she tells him as she heads down the hallway. She runs into Dean halfway to the spare room.

"I smell pie," he grins. And Mary can't help but laugh at the look on her son's face.

"Oh no you don't," she says, reaching up to turn him by the shoulders and push him back towards the room, "that pie is for dessert, and dessert only!" Dean laughs and lets her guide him back down the hallway. Cas has caught up and follows behind them, chuckling at the sight of petite Mary Winchester pushing her fully grown son down the hall.

When they reach the spare room, Mary wanders around and looks at all the different photostrips as the men put up the last remaining ones from the wedding. They work in a comfortable silence until Dean picks up the last strip and gasps.

"Mom…" he says, his curiously excited tone of his voice causing Cas to peer over his shoulder at the photo he's holding.

The strip features Sam and Jess, who looks beautiful a long, flowing dress. Sam is once again crammed onto the photobooth bench seat and Jess is perched on his lap. His arms are wrapped around her, giant hands splayed across her stomach, her hands resting on top of his.

"Mom," Dean says again, and Mary wanders over, glancing at the photo before smiling and looking back up at Dean. "Is Jess…?" he asks.

"Pregnant?" Mary says, unable to keep the huge grin off her face, "Yep! They didn't want to make the announcement until after you guys' wedding. Sam was going to tell you this weekend."

Dean's face splits into a wide grin that mirrors his mother's as he looks up at his husband. "Cas," he says, his voice full of awe and excitement, "Sammy's gonna have a baby!"

Castiel's smiling now too as he wraps an arm around Dean's shoulders, leaning their foreheads together as they stare down at the photostrip, yet another wonderful memory captured by one of Cas' favorite things. "We're going to be uncles, Dean."

* * *

Half an hour later, Cas and Mary are seated at the table, fresh cups of coffee set in front of them, as Dean sets about preparing ingredients for dinner.

"So tell me about the honeymoon," Mary urges, "How was it?"

"It was…amazing," Cas tells her.

They had gone on a 10 day cruise around Mexico. After leaving the reception, the two men had hopped into the Impala, planning to spend the night driving to San Diego, where the ship would leave from in the morning. However, only twenty minutes into the journey it had become clear that they weren't going to be making it to their hotel in San Diego, especially once groping-while-driving had been deemed too dangerous an activity. So Dean had pulled into the first motel they had passed with a vacancy. They booked a room and went to grab their bags from the trunk, only to find a chilling bottle of champagne and a congratulatory note from Gabriel.

"Your brother knows us way too well," Dean had told his husband as they headed to their room.

They had stopped when they reached their door, joking back and forth about which one of them was the "bride," until Cas finally had enough and scooped Dean up, bags and all, and carried him across the threshold.

Dean blushes at this part of the story and mumbles, "I am _so_ not the bride," making Mary laugh out loud.

Castiel skips over the rest of that night (it had been incredible, but his mother-in-law really didn't need all the details), and tells Mary all about the cruise ship.

It had been magnificent. At first, he had been concerned about being on a boat for ten days, especially considering Dean's feelings on airplanes, but the cruise ship felt more like an elaborate hotel than the floating metal deathtrap the other man had been half expecting. There were lobbies with marble staircases, high ceilings, and detailed chandeliers. The ship had three onboard bars (not counting the two by the pools), two lounges, a casino, and a nightclub. There was also a theater, a water slide (which Dean totally hadn't gone on…), and a game room. The men had explored a bit before taking a glass elevator to their floor and making their way to their room where their bags were waiting. It was fairly small, with just a queen-sized bed, a small table, and a bathroom, but it had an amazing balcony. Cas and Dean had sat outside staring at the water and the harbor until they were called for a mandatory emergency drill. Then they sat at one of the tables in the ship's 24 hour diner (one of the things that had sold Dean on this particular cruise line), and watched out the window as they set sail.

They spent the next ten days lazing on beaches or by the ship's adult-only pool and taking advantage of the cruise's offered excursions including deep sea fishing and swimming with dolphins. They had even spent a day being shown all of the local hotspots (and some amazing restaurants) by a particularly friendly taxi driver. But, if Cas was honest, the best part of the entire experience had been their dinners onboard the ship.

The cruise ship had a few onboard restaurants, as well as a nightly dinner service that was included in the whole package. The restaurant was fairly upscale, and each night had its own dress code. The first night had been black tie, so Cas and Dean had put on the same tuxes they had worn for their wedding.

Castiel laughs as he tells Mary how they had arrived at their assigned table only to find two women in bridal gowns.

The two men had looked at each other, then back to the women, who wore identical looks of shock, before all four of them had burst into laughter. It was the redheaded woman who spoke first, introducing herself as Charlie Bradbury. The brunette seated next to her was her new wife Gilda. Dean and Cas had sat down next to them, introducing themselves as newlyweds as well. The couples had immediately hit it off, swapping engagement and wedding stories.

There had still been two empty chairs left, and soon another couple showed up, this time lacking wedding attire. The woman, Pamela, wore a skintight floor-length backless dress, showing off what looked like a fairly new tattoo that read "Jesse forever."

"Let me guess," Charlie had said, gesturing to the man at Pamela's side who wore a blazer over a tuxedo t-shirt and tight black jeans, "You're Jesse."

Jesse had laughed and nodded before Charlie spoke again, "Whew. Otherwise that would've been _really_ awkward."

The entire table had cracked up at that one before sinking into easy conversation. As it turns out, Pam and Jesse were on the cruise to celebrate their recent engagement. Pam was halfway through telling their engagement story (which was far raunchier than those of the other two couples), when a blond man sauntered over to their table.

"Hello," he said, surprising the couples with a British accent, "My name is Balthazar and I will be your waiter for the rest of this cruise. I see I've gotten the couples' table this time around! And such good looking couples at that," he proclaimed, looking each and every member of the table up and down, "Well, this is going to be a fantastic trip."

And it had been. After learning quickly not to take offense to Balthazar hitting on each and every one of them, the couples had become fast friends. They spent hours at dinner each night, and even went on excursions together on shore.

"Hey, babe," Dean says, interrupting Cas' descriptions of the other couples, "Show her the pictures."

"Oh, right!" Cas says, getting up from the table, "Be right back."

Mary turns to Dean then, "It sounds like you had a wonderful time, sweetheart."

"Yeah," he says, turning away from where he's forming burger patties and smiling at his mother, "It was great. Charlie and Gilda actually live in San Jose, so they're going to come visit us sometime soon."

Cas comes back into the room then, holding a folder of photos.

"We figured we should have some pictures to put up around the house that didn't come out of a photobooth," he tells Mary.

He sits down next to her and proceeds to explain that each night around dinner time, the cruise staff would set up portrait areas. You could have as many photos taken as possible and then buy whichever ones you wanted at the end of the trip. The three couples had had way too much fun posing for pictures after dinner every night. Cas hands the folder over to Mary and she flips through the photos they bought.

The first few are photos of just Dean and Castiel. There are a few formal ones, with them in their tuxes, and then one from a casual dinner night, taken by the railing of the ship. It had been windy on the deck, so their hair is a bit of a mess, but they have their arms around each other and huge smiles on their faces. Mary almost tears up at that one.

There's also one photostrip from the trip. Dean and Cas had passed a photobooth outside of a souvenir shop one day and, of course, had to go in. They're both shirtless in the pictures, having just come from the beach. The first picture is just them, looking slightly more tanned than usual (well, more burned in Dean's case), arms around each other's shoulders, lazy grins on their faces. In the second shot, Cas has on a sombrero and Dean's wearing what looks to Mary like a blanket ("It's a serape!"), both of them holding maracas and wearing equally cheesy smiles. In the next shot, the two men are holding up a monkey made out of towels. They had found the thing on their bed the night before (apparently it's a cruise ship thing), and Cas had insisted on bringing it out with them. The final frame is just the monkey, seated on the bench with the sombrero on its head. Mary laughs so hard at that that she has to wipe tears from her eyes before she can go back to looking through the professional photographs.

The next picture she turns to shows the newlyweds along with their dinner table-mates. They had all been laughing at how serious all the other groups of people had looked while taking their photographs, and decided they needed a serious, formal picture as well. In the shot, the three pairs stand together, lined up against a cheesy background of a moonlit sky, taller partner behind shorter, arms stiffly placed on the other's waist. Each of them had put on the most exaggeratingly serious face possible, making for a photograph that just looks downright uncomfortable. Dean had laughed so hard when he had seen the end result that they had had to buy it.

The photograph Mary flips to next was taken just after the previous one, still against the cheesy background, but without an ounce of seriousness. Pam and Jesse are turned around, asses to the camera, showing off their matching tattoos. Dean had swept Charlie up into his arms, and their respective spouses stand next to them, Gilda bent over laughing and Cas trying to put on an angry face.

The next picture shows them all against a plain white background, all crowded together with their arms thrown around each other. They're all laughing, and Cas explains to Mary that it was because Balthazar had walked up behind their photographer, a surly man called Crowley, and pinched his ass.

The last photos in the group were both taken on one of the ship's beautiful winding staircases. The photographer had set up the entire photo – Dean and Cas on the highest steps, Pam and Jesse two steps below them, and Charlie and Gilda at the bottom – before instructing them all to kiss. The first photo shows a series of chaste kisses: Dean kissing a smiling Cas on the cheek, Pam giving Jesse a quick peck on the lips, and Charlie pressing a delicate kiss to Gilda's hand, both of them smirking at the camera.

As Mary flips to the next photo, Cas explains that the photographer had yelled at them, "No! I meant a REAL kiss!" The couples had clearly taken her instructions to heart. In this photograph, Charlie's dipping Gilda, kissing her soundly on the lips, and Jesse has Pam lifted up onto the banister, her head thrown back as he mouths at her neck. Dean's pressed up against the opposite banister in the back, using Cas' tie to pull him in bring their open mouths together.

Dean, who's been putting away all the food preparations in the fridge, suddenly comes up behind Mary, realizing what she's looking at. "Oh God, Cas, don't show that one to my MOTHER," he says, appalled.

Cas just shrugs at his husband and Mary can't help but laugh.

* * *

Later that night, after John has joined them and Dean's finished his second piece of pie, Mary suddenly speaks up about the spare room.

"You know, Dean, your father and I still have that old pool table of yours in the basement. Why don't you make it into a game room?"

Dean looks up at Cas and they have one of those married-people silent conversations.

"That's a wonderful idea, Mary," Cas says, "When can we come pick it up?"

* * *

The next day, Dean and Cas are sweaty and tired after setting up their new game room. The pool table sits in the middle, and there's an old couch pushed into one of the corners. Dean's about to collapse on said couch when Cas speaks up from where he's leaning against the pool table, cue in hand.

"You know, Dean," he says, voice low, "I never really got the hang of pool. Maybe you could…show me?"

Dean laughs at the corny-ness of the whole thing, but he wanders over to Cas anyway and sets his hands on the other man's waist. "Well, Cas," he says, lips just brushing his husband's ear, "It's really all about how you position your hips…"

* * *

Two hours later finds Cas and Dean curled up underneath the pool table in their new game room, still sweaty and tired, but now for completely different (and far more enjoyable) reasons.


	4. Their New Addition

**A/N: **Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed!

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Their New Addition**

"Dean!" Castiel calls down the hallway, keys in hand, "Come on, let's go!" When he gets no response, he wanders down the hall, stopping in the door of the nursery where Dean is bent over the baby carrier set atop the changing table. When Dean straightens up, Cas takes the opportunity to slide behind his husband and wrap his arms around him, resting his chin on his shoulder and peering down at their baby girl.

"Sorry," Dean says, his voice reverberating through Castiel's chest, "I just wanted to make sure she looked alright." He reaches out to adjust the tiny bow atop their daughter's head.

Cas takes a minute to look her over. She's dressed in a hilarious AC/DC onesie her uncle Gabriel had managed to find, her chubby little baby legs clad in soft pink leggings underneath. On her feet are the tiniest pair of hot pink converse Castiel's ever seen (those had been her aunt Jess's idea).

The two men spend a good five minutes just standing together and staring down at their daughter, now asleep in her carrier. After all this time, neither of them can seem to believe that she's finally here.

* * *

Joelle Mary Novak-Winchester was born on September 18th, almost two years after Cas and Dean had gotten married and exactly nine years after they had found each other again. Dean remembers the day that they had decided they wanted children. The conversation had come up, of course, inside of a photobooth.

They had gone out to see a movie and, upon exiting the theater, stumbled upon one of Cas' favorite things. Once they had settled on the bench inside, Cas had played with the controls while Dean stared at the sample photos on the screen. One of them showed a family of four, impossibly crammed into the booth, laughing and smiling.

"Hey, Cas," he had blurted out, "Do you – doyouwannamaybehaveababy?"

Cas had whipped around at that one, photo selections all but forgotten.

"What?" he had asked, blue eyes wide.

Dean took a deep breath, "I said, do you want to maybe, uh, have a baby?" When Cas remained silent, Dean continued, "I mean, I realize we haven't really talked about it all that much, but I've kindof been thinking about it lately and, I don't know," Dean looked down at where his hands were sitting in his lap and said, so quietly Cas almost didn't hear him, "I just kindof want to be a dad."

It took a moment for Cas to unfreeze, shocked as he was. He reached a gentle hand up to his husband's chin, lifting it so he could look into his eyes.

"Dean," he had said, "There is nothing I would love more than to have a child with you."

To anyone else, the photostrip that captured the next few moments wouldn't look like anything special. It's simply four frames in which Dean and Cas sit staring at each other, Castiel's hand still on his husband's chin. But when Dean looks at it, he can always catch the soft smiles on their faces in the last frame; and when Castiel looks at it, he always remembers the huge grin that had broken out on Dean's face just after the final photo was taken.

They finally make it out the door, and soon Dean's behind the wheel of the Impala, driving slower than he ever has. There's precious cargo in the backseat, after all. When he looks in the rearview mirror and sees his husband tucked in next to his daughter, he can't help but smile at the immense love he feels for his family.

In the backseat, Castiel stares down at his little girl, and he too feels his heart swell with love. His mind is brought back to a moment, maybe a week after they had made the official decision to have a child.

They had been lying curled up in bed after having stayed up too long researching their options for starting a family, Cas' head pillowed on Dean's chest, Dean absentmindedly running a hand through Cas' hair. Castiel had been lost in worried thought for a while, but he was surprised when Dean picked up on it.

"What's wrong?" his husband had asked, the hand in his hair pausing as he looked up, concerned.

"Nothing," Cas had mumbled into the other man's chest. A beat of silence had passed before he rolled onto his back and confessed to the ceiling, "I'm scared I'm not going to love our child enough."

"Cas," Dean said gently, rolling onto his side to get a better look at the other man, "What do you mean? Do you not want this?"

"No, no," Cas said quickly, turning his head to look at Dean, "It's not that at all. It's just that…I mean, you know how my parents were with me and Gabe. They were…distant at best, and we were theirs, biologically. What if we adopt or something, and I can't love our child enough?"

"Cas," Dean said again, "Babe, c'mere." He reached out an arm and Castiel allowed himself to be pulled into his husband's embrace. He tucked his head under Dean's chin and the other man pressed a kiss to the top of his head. It was a few minutes before Dean spoke again.

"Castiel Novak," he said, chuckling a bit despite the seriousness of the moment, "You are one of the most loving people I know. I mean, even when we were kids, you always looked after everyone else. Remember Alfie? God, you almost got both of our asses kicked looking out for that kid, and you didn't even know him! Or remember that time you found that baby bird and you made me feed it from an eye dropper for _days_ because your parents wouldn't let you keep it? Or even Johnny. I know you love that kid something fierce, Cas. And he's Sam and Jess', not yours. But you love him because he's _family_. Just like our kid's gonna be family, blood-related or not."

Castiel didn't respond, but Dean felt him sniffle a bit into his t-shirt, and he knew his husband understood.

* * *

They had eventually decided on surrogacy, choosing to both contribute so as not to know whose child it was biologically. After a lengthy search, they had found a woman named Anna to carry their child. Anna and her husband Inias already had three children of their own, and Anna had told them that after her third child, she had felt a calling to do something for those who couldn't bear children themselves. She lived a good distance away, closer to the San Diego area, but Cas and Dean had kept in touch with her throughout what seemed to be a fairly easy pregnancy.

Two weeks ago, a week before Anna was due, the couple had driven to San Diego and stayed at a hotel to eagerly await the birth of their daughter. Sure enough, three days after they arrived, Inias had called to tell them that Anna had gone into labor. They had rushed to the hospital, intent on staying in the waiting area, but Anna had graciously welcomed them into the delivery room where they had watched as their daughter was born (and if Dean had gone a bit faint at the sight and had to lean on Cas for a bit, well, that wasn't anybody's business but theirs).

* * *

Now, Cas sits in the same place as he did when they had pulled away from the hospital and began the long journey home. As he watches, the baby wakes, slowly blinking her eyes open to stare up at him. Not for the first time, he almost laughs at his previous worries that he couldn't love a child that wasn't biologically his. With her blond hair and bright green eyes, Joelle is clearly Dean's. But, if anything, that just makes Castiel love her more – this beautiful little baby, his daughter, a little piece of the man he loves. He can't help but lean in to press a gentle kiss to her tiny kiss.

"You're perfect," he murmurs.

* * *

Eventually, despite Dean driving considerably under the speed limit, they make it to their destination. Deciding to forgo the baby carrier – they're not going to be here long – Cas unbuckles the baby and lifts her into his arms before joining Dean at the front of the car.

Dean smiles when he sees that she's awake, pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head, "Hey, baby girl. You ready?" he asks, more to Cas than their daughter. When he looks back up at the other man, he catches a glimpse of that all-too-familiar look on his face and laughs, "I'm gonna take that as a yes. Come on then, let's go."

He leads the way to a photobooth, the very same one in which they had decided to have a baby in the first place. When he gets there, he stops, turning to speak to the little girl in his husband's arms.

"Now, Joelle," he says, with all the mock-seriousness he can muster, "This here is a photobooth. You're going to see a lot of these over the years, if your Papa has anything to do with it, so you might as well just accept it now…" Dean continues his explanation of the machine all the way until they're all finally squeezed inside. There are definitely people staring at them as they pass by, but Castiel couldn't care less. As he sits with his family and watches as yet another one of his favorite moments is captured by one of his favorite things, all he can do is wonder just how he got so lucky.

* * *

Later that day, Joelle naps in the playpen that's been added to the game room as her fathers paste one more photostrip up on the wall. The four frames make for a fairly hilarious progression of events.

The first one is a near perfect shot, Joelle curled up in the joined arms of a grinning Dean and Castiel as she flashes her own small smile at the camera.

The second frame shows the couple grinning down at their baby girl. Joelle, however, is no longer smiling. She had been surprised by the flash of the first picture and now wears a look that's somewhere between surprised and terrified, green eyes huge as she stares at the camera.

In the third frame, Cas and Dean's smiles have faded into matching looks of concern as Joelle starts to blubber.

In the fourth shot, Joelle has just started to full on wail. Dean has her in his arms, trying to calm her down, while Cas looks on, clearly concerned but also visibly wincing at the strength of his daughter's cries.

"Just like her father," Cas tells Dean. At the other man's quizzical look he continues, "Oh, come on, do you remember how you fell out of that tree when we were, what, ten years old? You screamed so damn loud the entire neighborhood came running. God, I was scared you'd done some kind of horrible internal damage the way you were carrying on. And then your mom comes and looks you over and all you've done is sprained your ankle."

Dean groans and blushes just the tiniest bit, "This is one of those times I wish I hadn't known you as a kid, babe."

Castiel laughs before wrapping his arms around his husband's shoulders, "No you don't."

Dean's hands automatically go to Cas' waist and he pulls him into a tight hug. He looks around, taking in the hundreds of photos of years gone by before his gaze comes to rest on their sleeping daughter. "No," he says, "I really don't"

It took a lot to get them here, and Dean wouldn't change a thing.


End file.
